Full-time parenting as the school holidays start

Allan Blackburn

Published:10:28Sunday 19 July 2015

Share this article

Well, for many of us in the Lancaster district, this week saw the last week of term and we face six weeks of full time parenting.

For families with little ones, coming up with things to amuse the kids can be hard, but we are so lucky to live here with green open spaces, the canal and of course a fabulous beach and promenade just down the road at Morecambe

For me, I’m at the other end with grown up children now. In fact my eldest son, Jimmy, has children of his own.

I feel so lucky as I seem to have my children with me all the time. Two of them work with me and the other lives at home, so I do spend an awful lot of time with them, which I love.

Jimmy is now 40 and manages the antiques centre for me. He started working here on a part time basis when he was 15 and, after a spell at British Aerospace, realised he shared my passion for antiques and came to work here full time.

He has two children and they love going to the camp sites in Southern France for their holidays, as Jimmy’s wife, Carol, speaks fluent French.

My middle daughter Dawn is now 35. She used to run the tea room on site and now helps me in the office managing the accounts, checking my emails, dealing with the admin and generally looking after me!

She likes to find the sun on her holidays so Spain, Portugal and Majorca are her favourites.

My youngest daughter Mel is 30 now and still lives with us at home. She is severely autistic.

She finds things tough and faces many challenges daily, but we are so very proud of her.

She attends a day centre and once the bus drops her back at home at 4pm it’s a full time job to look after her.

Luckily, I have always needed very little sleep and can work from home too, so Gloria, my wife, does get a break from caring for her. Her favourite place is Jersey and we go there every year.